Brian Coburn elected trustee — but not that Brian Coburn

If voters in the city’s east end thought former Cumberland mayor and Tory MPP Brian Coburn made a political comeback Monday night, they were wrong.

That’s because the Brian Coburn elected Catholic trustee in Zone 3 is not the well-known local politician and former provincial cabinet minister who was appointed a citizenship judge in 2006.

They’re not even related.

But despite having no website or lawn signs and not bothering to respond to a community newspaper’s survey of candidates, the 51-year-old Coburn won a split race, taking 1,798 votes or 35 cent of the vote.

“I was somewhat surprised,” he said Tuesday, adding he chose to run a “word-of-mouth” campaign.

When some voters stepped into the polling booth, they may have been confused by the candidate’s name and picked him thinking they were sending a familiar face to the board table.

The confusion over which Coburn is which even extends to Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, where the final line in the entry about the former politician said he was elected to the Ottawa Catholic School Board before it was modified later in the day.

Trustee-elect Coburn said the name recognition likely worked to his advantage and added he did nothing to make sure voters knew there was a difference.

“Certainly, the people I spoke to know me by the name Brian Coburn and I

didn’t do a whole lot to set myself apart,” he said.

Coburn, who said he has a background in accounting and currently works for the National Gallery of Canada Foundation, said he’s always wanted to be involved in the political process. “I thought that running as a trustee was a good stepping stone.”

He explained his two daughters attended French Catholic schools, so he had to change his tax support to the English Catholic board, where his wife and a daughter are both currently teachers.

Second-place finisher

Anita MacDonald said the possibility that some voters may have been confused over her opponent’s name makes the loss bittersweet.

The executive director of the Heart of Orléans BIA and mother of two worked diligently on her own campaign, maintaining a website and putting up lawn signs. She got 1,368 votes or 27 per cent of the vote.

MacDonald, who’s also a member of the St. Theresa’s Catholic School council, said she hasn’t met Coburn, but looks forward to working with him. “He has a famous name, but hopefully now he’s got some famous traits that he’ll bring to the table and that he’ll actually show (his) face, because I have no idea who he is,” she said.

Another defeated candidate isn’t taking the loss with such grace.

Michael Karpishka, who placed last, is calling for Coburn to be dismissed by the board and is recommending that the remaining Catholic trustees appoint a new representative for the zone.

When reached for comment, the other Brian Coburn — the judge and former politician — said he had received several calls from people asking if it was he who had become trustee, but he didn’t seem too worried about any possible confusion. “There’s nothing I can do about it,” he said.

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